Apparatus for target practice with rifles and other firearms



Feb; 26, 1924;

E. E. ALM

APPARATUS FOR TARGET PRACTICE WITH RIFLES AND OTHER FIREARMS Filed Feb.1 1921 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Feb. 26

E. E. ALM

APPARATUS FOR TARGET PRACTICE WITH RIFLES AND OTHER FIREARMS Filed Fe 1.1921 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I I l I l l I I I I l I l l 1 l l l l I I l I l Il l II Patented Feb. as, rare.

j v terse unite arts tr caste.

EINAR ERIK ATM/or STOCKHOLM, swnnnn.

APPARATUS roe TARGET rnAc IoE WITH nirtns nn oTnEa FIR Application filedFebruary. 1, 1921. Serial No. 441,705.

To a ZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that l[, EINAR ERIK ALM, printing-office superintendent,subject of the King of Sweden, residing at Stockholm, Sweden, haveinvented certain new anduseful Improvements in Apparatus" for TargetPractice with Rifles and Other Fireanns, of which the following is aspecification.

In target-practice indoors, the size of the target has to be diminishedin the same degree as the fire range is reduced. A precision target with5 rings, which in reality has a size of 1700 x 1400 millimeters andwhich is positioned at a distance of 300 meters, at a distance of 30meters has to be 170 x 140 millimeters; at a distance of 3 meters thesize of the target will be 17 x 14 millimeters, and so forth. Certaintechnical difliculties, however, prevent shooting at too smalldistances.

The ap aratus according to the present invention is intended as asubstitute for target practice indoors. The novel apparatus makes itpossible for the marksman to manipulate the arm in any locality forinstance inside the four walls of a room, in a manner approachingnatural conditions as nearly as possible, that is, he will be able toaim at a target which is visible to the eye, the same as in bulletpractice, and to pull the-trigger so as to cause a record to be made ona miniature target, corresponding to the hit of the bullet, if actualtarget practice had taken place instead.

The invention is principally-characterized by a part (the armature)attached to the rifle so' as. to be movable relatively tothe latter inall directions, the said armature being movably connected with arecording de- ,vice provided in the rifle, in such a manner as totransmit the movements of the rifle to the recording device when themarksman is aiming, the rifle being held in aiming position with thearmature bearing against a fixed point with respect to the'rifle.

. The target, which is supported by the armature, is preferablyconnected' with a pointer the point of which makes the same ;movementsas the target, but on a magnified scale. At the end this pointerprovided with a needle, and while the fire arm is in motion, the saidneedle point moves over a slirfacewhich is an enlargement of the littletarget. Fixed into this surface (exchangeably) is arecord sheet ofpaper. or card board which is jerked against the needle point so as tobe pierced thereby on the percussion needle of the rifle springingforward. The perforation thus produced is s1tuated on the second sheetin a point corre-.

sponding to to that one in which the line of sight of the rifleintersected the target at the moment of firing.

The apparatus is adaptable to all kinds of fire arms, due regard havingto be paid, of course, to the variations in size, etc, in volved by thediffering dimensions of the arms that are to be used in connection withthe apparatus. The apparatus in question is most suitable for certaintypes of manually operated the arms andit is, perhaps, adapted to thebest advantage in rifles, and

will be 'describedhereinbelow in connectionwith a rifle of Mauser-type.V

The accompanying drawing shows an embodiment of the invention. Fig. 1 isa vertical longitudinal section of the apparatus.

Fig. 2 is a cross section on line a-b in Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 a crosssection on line o-d in Fig. 1. Fig. 4 shows the apparatus looking fromabove, and Fig. 5 is a horizontal longitlidinal section thereof. 6represents the apparatus as connected with a rifle of Mauser-type.

According to the drawing, the frame of the apparatus comprises a squarecasing 1 adapted to be .fastenedto the barrel 2 by means of two crosspieces 34 adapted to he slid thereon. Pivotally mounted in the part is aclamp 5 with adjusting screws 6. According to Fig. 4, the-clamp can belowered behind the front sight 7 of the rifle so as to prevent theapparatus from being displaced. By screwing the adjusting screws Gtoward the front sight'7, the apparatus may be given such a positionlaterally that the vertical central plane of the same coincides with avertical plane through the line of sight of the rifle. Adjacent to theouter end of the apparatus there is provided within openings in theupper a'nd lower sides of. the easlower: en "thereof by means of whichthe standard or the armature may rest on a fixed support 10 (see Fig.1). At its upper end the armature carries a disc 34 having representedtherepn the image of a target 11 drawn to a highly reduced scale. Thedisk.

34 and-the target may be adjusted vertically by means of a nut 13threaded on the spindle while the pointer 14 partakes of the motionenters between the foot-piece 9 of the arma- .ture and an abutment 22situated on the so that the point 15 thereof moves over a record sheet16 of paper or the like. This sheet of paper is inserted from one sideinto a frame 17 which is rigidly connected with a slide 23 adapted to bemoved to and fro on' the bottom of the casing 1. The above-mentionedgimbal consists of a horizontal shaft, 18 arranged in the armature 8,the said shaft 18 being journalled in side pieces of a frame 19belonging to the pointer 14. The frame 19 is movably connected with avertical shaft 21 by means of a second horizontal shaft 20, the saidshaft 21 being journalled between the upper and lower sides of thecasing 1.

One edge of the lower side of the casing 1 armature at some distancefrom the footpiece, the vertical movements of the arma -ture being thuslimited so that the point 15 of the pointer 14 cannotstrike against thecasing at the top and the bottom thereof: the point 15 of the pointer isthus prevented from being injured. 1n the same manner the point isprevented from striking laterally against the casing, in that thehorizontal movements of the armature are limited by the edges of theopening in the bottom of the casing (see Fig. 3)..

At the bottom of the'casing an arm 25 is rotatably mounted around a stud24, a cord 26 being stretched between the one projecting end of the saidarm 25 and the percussion needle 27 of the rifle. Pivotally attached tothe arm 25 by means of a stud 28 is a hook 29 adapted to be brought inengagement with an abutment 30 in the slide 23 when the percussionneedle 27 is brought undertension'and causes the arm 25 to be turned bya pull on the cord 26. The hook 29 is actuated soas to be brought inengagement with the abutment 30 by a spring 31 inserted between the hookand the slide 23. This spring also actuates the slide 23 and tends todisplace it toward the rear end of 6&- the casing when the arm 25bearsagainst the fixed vpart 4 under the action ofa spring 33 insertedbetween the stud 28 and a rigid pivot 32. 1

The action of the hook mechanism is as follows When .the percussionneedle or hammer 27 is pulled rearwardly in the act of cooking thefirearm, a rearward pull isexertedupon the cord 26 causing the arm 25 toswing rearwardly on its 'pivotal axis 24,

thereby moving the 'hook 29 rearwardly,the

rounded abutment engaging beakthereof ing sliding rearwardlyalon theadjacent face of the abutment 30. Ijpon-completion of the cockingmovement of the percussion needle of the hammer or firearm, the roundedbeak of thehook 29 lies behind the abutment 30 and is swung intoengagement therewith to the position indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 5by the tension of the spring 31. The hook 29 remains in this positionrelative to the abutment 30 as long as the percussion needle or hammerof the firearm is maintained in retracted or cocked position. When therifle or firearm is fired, the percussion needle or hammer 27 isprojected forwardly in the usual manner producing a slack in the cord 26and permitting the arm 25 to swing forwardly under the influence of thespring 33, and the beak of the hook 29 en aging behind the abutment 30causes the slide 23 and record sheet 16 to be ad; vanced forwardly alongwith the arm 25 and the hook 29. During the forward movement of therecord sheet 16 it .is penetrated by the needle point 15. When the arm25 comes to rest against the member 4 of the casing, the slide 23 isreturned to its initial position by the tension of the spring 31, theabutment 30 again assuming a position somewhat'to the rear of the beakof the hook 29, as indicated in full lines in Fig. 5.

The target 11 may, if desired, be placed on a somewhat larger plate 34which latter may be provided around the target with a colour compositionas natural as possible. A miniature landscape, a skirt of wood, rocks orthe like will be found to be the most suitable. The said plate 34 isconnected with the armature 8 by means of a spinsition on the rifle, andthe latter is ke t freely in the air in aiming position, t e weight ofthe armature will cause the latter and the target 11 to assume such aposition that the line of sight of the rifle will fall immediately abovethe target, the point 15 of the pointer 14 being then directed towardsome point above the recordsheet 16. If the muzzle of the rifle is nowlowered so that the foot-piece 9 of the armature is brought to rest on afixed support 10, the result of this will be that the target 11. is atrest, whereas the muzzle of the rifle can be moved vertically andlaterally, this motion causing whole recordsheet 16.- The marksman thenhas a surprisingly good illusion of aiming atv a distantstationary-target. The perto ration produced in the record sheet 16 ashereinabove described then shows the aimfiring.

As will beseen from the above, the Vaof the marksman at the moment of Imeager ments of the line of sight, while the target is standing still,is limlted to somewhat more than the size of the target.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the UnitedStates is 1. An apparatus for target practice wlth fire arms including acasing attachable to a fire arm, an armature supported in the easing soas to be movable relative to the fire arm in all directions, a targetelement carried by the armature, a recording device, and meansconnecting the armature with the recording device so as to transmit themovements of the fire arm to the recording device when aiming the firearm, the latter being held in aiming position with the armature bearingagainst a fixed point with respect to the fire arm whereby the targetcarrying armature remains fixed during aiming movement of the firearm.

2. An apparatus for target practice with fire arms including a casingattachable to a fire arm, a target movably mounted on the casing, amarker movable with the target, a record element movable against themarker, means normally tending to displace the record element toward themarker, means to releasably lock the record element in inoperativeposition, and means adapted to connect said releasable locking meanswith a movable part of a fire arm whereby the locking means is actuatedto release the record element incident with the firing of the fire armso as to make a record of the accuracy of the aim of the fire arm.

3. An apparatus for target practice with fire arms including a casing, atarget movably mounted thereon, a penetrating element carried by thetarget ,and movable therewith,

a penetrable element mounted in the casing and adapted to engage thepenetrating element whereby to record the accuracy of the aim of thefire arm, supporting means for the penetrable element, a pivotallymounted lever arranged in the casing, means carried by the lever forengaging the support to effect movement of the latter in one directionwith the lever whereby penetration of the penetrable element iseffected, means normally tending to actuate the penetrabie element, andmeans connected with the lever and adapted for connection with themovable part of a fire arm whereby the lever is locked to preventactuation of the penetrable element during aiming of the fire arm.

4. An apparatus for target practice with fire arms including a casing,armature mounted for universal movement on the easing, a target carriedby the armature arranged to be sighted along the sights of the firearm,means for adjusting the target relative to the armature, and means forsecur- EINAR ERIK ALM.

Witnesses BIRJER Gnronor, SNEE SVENSON.

